Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Let me tell you a story I read. There was a man who was chosen to be a disciple of Jesus. He was with Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. He witnessed the miracles. He heard the messages Jesus spoke. His own mother-in-law had been healed by Jesus (Matthew 8:14-15). He saw Jesus calm the seas and walk on water. He vowed to follow Jesus wherever He would go and even told Jesus in Mark 14:29, “Even though all my fall away, yet I will not.” Even when Jesus told him before the cock crows twice, he would deny Him three times, Peter told Him, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny You.” Yet, when Jesus told him His soul was deeply grieved to the point of death, to remain here and keep watch while He went and prayed, Jesus came back to find Peter sleeping. Jesus asked Peter why he could not watch for one hour and went away to pray again only to find Peter once again sleeping. Peter was there when Jesus was arrested and taken away. Peter fled. He cursed when they asked if he was a follower. He denied he even knew Jesus. This isn’t where Peter thought he would be. He vowed he would follow Jesus wherever He would go even if it meant dying with Him. Now let’s look at what happened when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. He asked him this three times. The same number of times Peter denied Jesus. Peter told Jesus, “Yes, Lord you know that I love You.” Do you see the meaning here? Though Peter failed to be strong in his walk, Jesus showed Peter what mattered. “Do you love Me?” Jesus didn’t let Peter dwell on how he failed Him. He knew Peter loved Him. He knew what was in Peter’s heart. Jesus didn’t say, “Then” when He told Peter to “Tend My lambs, shepherd My sheep, tend My sheep.” We need to remember that our failures when following Jesus is not what defines us. It is when we can say, “Lord, you know that I love You” and realize God isn’t finished with us. “He who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”